After the women and children demonstration the protest against the Wall continued. The demonstration was attacked with teargas and sound bombs. The soldiers entered the village and kidnapped and brutally beat an international man who was later released.
The demonstrators were halted before they reached the olive fields on the outskirts of the town. Around 50 Palestinians, International and Israeli activists were fired upon with teargas including the new teargas. The army was so close that the teargas was falling into the centre of town. Many people suffered from teargas inhalation and two people were hit with the canisters requiring medical treatment.
This continued until after a large barrage of teargas and sound bombs the army entered the town from the olive fields. The army on foot ran down the streets pointing their rifles around corners and into doorways and shooting teargas down the streets.
An International activist was left stranded when the army fired a concentration of teargas and sound bombs as they made a rapid approach into the village causing the demonstrators to flee back to the town centre. The activist had stayed behind a house when he was suffering from teargas inhalation and when the army advanced he was trapped behind them. A following group of soldiers to the ones who entered the town found the activist who immediately put his hands up. The army responded by beating him with their rifle buts along with kicking and hitting him as they led him into the olive fields using a dirt road. Along with beating the activist they also stuck the firing end of their rifle into his neck and pushed him up against a wall. After kidnapping the international activist the soldiers withdrew form the town and when they were leaving though the olive fields they released the international hostage.
I was here when they murdered Arafat and Mohamed, the way the army were acting when they came into the town made me think they were going to do something similar. I was afraid for my life when they would find me and I feel if I was Palestinian they would have just shot me.
Israeli snipers are shooting at families who are attempting to seek refuge in Al-Quds hospital, Gaza City. Palestinian and international volunteers are now on the streets outside the hospital to try and get the families inside the hospital.
Australian Human Rights Activist Sharon Lock is assisting medical teams at the hospital,
Israeli snipers are shooting at families attempting to get to the hospital. They are frightened and have no where to go. At least two families have been shot at now, children have been wounded.
Al-Quds hospital, Gaza City, located in the Tel al Huwa neighbourhood of Gaza, has been under attack by the Israeli army since 1:30 AM. According to International volunteers at the hospital it has been hit by shells four times.
“The hospital has received over 150 calls for help from people including many children in the surrounding area who have been wounded and are in desperate need of medical care. The Israeli army has surrounded the hospital and no one is able to get in or out.” – Sharon Lock (Australia) International Solidarity Movement
The Free Gaza Movement sails for Gaza FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The latest reports are of four Israeli gunboats saying they will use their weapons if the SPIRIT OF HUMANITY does not turn back to Greece. The boat is asserting its right to continue in international waters.
The Free Gaza mercy ship, SPIRIT OF HUMANITY, left port in Cyprus this morning on an emergency mission to besieged Gaza. Aboard the ship are desperately needed medical supplies and 21 passengers and crew, including doctors, human rights workers, journalists, and two parliamentarians from Spain and Italy.
We’ve just received word from the ship (as of 3:15am UST / 1:15am GMT) that they are surrounded by Israeli Naval gunboats. The warships are demanding that the SPIRIT OF HUMANITY return to Cyprus. We are insisting to reach Gaza and complete our peaceful mission.
The Israelis have not yet attacked our unarmed ship, but it is URGENT that everyone immediately CALL the Israeli government and demand that they STOP threatening the SPIRIT OF HUMANITY!
CALL
Mark Regev in the Prime Minister’s office:
+972 2670 5354 or +972 5 0620 3264
mark.regev@it.pmo.gov.il
Shlomo Dror in the Ministry of Defence:
+972 3697 5339 or +972 50629 8148
mediasar@mod.gov.il
The Israeli Navy Spokesperson:
+ 972 5 781 86248
LOCATION OF SPIRIT OF HUMANITY
The location of the ship can be tracked on its Spot Tracker page.
Free Gaza Movement departs tomorrow (Photo of earlier voyage leaving port in Larnaca)For Immediate Release
Larnaca, Cyprus – The Free Gaza Movement vessel, SPIRIT OF HUMANITY, will resume its emergency mission to the besieged Gaza Strip at 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday, January 14, 2009. The ship will carry desperately needed doctors, journalists, human rights workers, and members of parliaments as well as medical supplies donated by the people of Greece and the European Campaign to End the Siege on Gaza.
After departure on January 12 at 3 pm from Larnaca Port the boat encountered problems with one of its two generators that was compounded by rough weather. For the safety of the passengers, the captain decided to return to port and the boat docked in Larnaca at about 9 pm on January 12. Thanks to the generosity and support of the people of Cyprus, the problem has been quickly repaired and the boat ready to depart.
Israeli authorities have threatened to use “any means” to keep the SPIRIT OF HUMANITY from reaching Gaza. Despite this threat and a previous attack by an Israeli war ship on our motor vessel DIGNITY, the Free Gaza Movement is determined to continue nonviolently challenging Israel’s aggression and break the siege on the 1.5 million Palestinians being terrorized and slaughtered by Israel in the Gaza Strip. Free Gaza Movement organizer Huwaida Arraf said, “We will not let Israel’s threats deter us. The Israeli authorities have been put on notice again of our mission; any attack by Israel on the boat will be considered a deliberate attack on unarmed civilians engaged in a humanitarian action.”
The medical supplies being taken in include essential parts for ventilators, which will allow the only burn center in the Gaza Strip, at Shifa Hospital, to double its capacity, as well as medicines and basic medical supplies requested by area hospitals in Gaza.
The Free Gaza Movement sails for Gaza For more information, please contact:
(Cyprus/Gaza) Huwaida Arraf, +357 96 723 999 or +357 99 081 767
(Gaza) Ewa Jasiewicz, +972 598 700 497
(U.S.) Ramzi Kysia, +1 703 994 5422
UPDATE: The “SPIRIT OF HUMANITY” has returned to port in Cyprus for minor repairs. The crew & passengers plan to depart for Gaza in the morning.
(Cyprus) The Free Gaza Movement ship, “SPIRIT OF HUMANITY,” left Larnaca Port at 3:00 pm, Monday, 12 January, on an emergency mission to besieged Gaza. It is expected to arrive in Gaza at approximately 11am (UST) Tuesday morning. Aboard the ship are 36 passengers and crew, representing 17 different nations. They are doctors, journalists, human rights workers, and five European parliamentarians representing Belgium, Greece, Italy, and Spain (see below for a complete passenger list). The mercy ship also carries desperately needed medical supplies meant for hospitals in the Gaza Strip.
This voyage marks Free Gaza’s second attempt to break through the blockade since Israel began attacking Gaza on 27 December. Between August and December 2008, the Free Gaza Movement successfully challenged the Israeli blockade five times, landing the first international ships in the port of Gaza since 1967.
The Israeli military violently attacked an earlier attempt by the Free Gaza Movement to send an emergency boat filled with doctors and medical supplies to Gaza. In the early hours of Tuesday, 30 December, the Israeli navy deliberately, repeatedly, and without warning rammed the unarmed ship, the DIGNITY, causing significant structural damage and endangering the lives of its passengers and crew. The DIGNITY found safe harbor in Lebanon, and is currently awaiting repairs.
Shortly before the SPIRIT OF HUMANITY left Cyprus today, the Cypriot authorities informed the Free Gaza Movement that the Israeli government had officially contacted their embassy in Tel Aviv, and warned them that they felt “justified” in using “any means available” to forcibly prevent the mercy ship from arriving in Gaza. At the request of the ship’s organizers, the Cypriot authorities searched the ship prior to its departure to certify that it only carried medical supplies.
Fouad Ahidar, a member of the Belgian Parliament sailing to Gaza aboard the SPIRIT OF HUMANITY, responded to concerns that Israel may attack the unarmed ship by saying, “I have five children that are very worried about me, but I told them: ‘you can sit on your couch and watch these atrocities on the television, or you can choose to take action to make them stop.'”
Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip have injured thousands of civilians and killed over 900 people, including hundreds of women and children. This ongoing Israeli massacre severely and massively violates international humanitarian law defined by the Geneva Conventions, especially the obligations of an Occupying Power and the requirements of the laws of war.
The United Nations has failed to protect the Palestinian civilian population from Israel’s massive violations of international humanitarian law. Israel has closed off Gaza from the international community and demanded that all foreigners leave. But Huwaida Arraf, an organizer with the Free Gaza Movements, stated that, “We cannot just sit by and wait for Israel to decide to stop the killing and open the borders for relief workers to pick up the pieces. We are coming in. There is an urgent need for this mission as Palestinian civilians in Gaza are being terrorized and slaughtered by Israel, and access to humanitarian relief denied to them. When states and the international bodies responsible for taking action to stop such atrocities chose to be impotent, then we – the citizens of the world – must act. Our common humanity demands nothing less.”
Israel has been notified that we are coming. A copy of the notification to the Israeli Authorities is attached. The Free Gaza Movement will hold Israel responsible for any harm that may be done to the ship or its passengers.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
Take Action! CALL the Israeli Government and let them know that the SPIRIT OF HUMANITY is coming to Gaza. DEMAND that Israel immediately STOP slaughtering civilians in Gaza and STOP using violence to prevent human rights and humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people.
CALL
Mark Regev in the Prime Minister’s office:
+972 2670 5354 or +972 5 0620 3264 / mark.regev@it.pmo.gov.il
Shlomo Dror in the Ministry of Defence:
+972 3697 5339 or +972 50629 8148 / mediasar@mod.gov.il
Major Liebovitz from the Israeli Navy:
+ 972 5 781 86248
Official Notification of Intent to Enter
January 11, 2009
To: The Israeli Ministry of Defense, Fax: 972-3-697-6717
To: The Israeli Navy
To: The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Fax 972-2-5303367
From: The Free Gaza Movement
This letter serves as a formal notification to you as the Occupying Power and belligerent force in the Gaza Strip that on Monday, January 12 we are navigating the motor vessel, Spirit of Humanity, from the Port of Larnaca to the port of Gaza City. Our vessel will be flying the Greek flag, and, as such, falls under the jurisdiction Greece.
We will be sailing from Cypriot waters into international waters, then directly into the territorial waters of the Gaza Strip without entering or nearing Israeli territorial waters. We expect to arrive at the Gaza Port on Tuesday, January 13, 2009.
We will be carrying urgently needed medical supplies in sealed boxes, cleared by customs at the Larnaca International Airport and the Port of Larnaca. There will be a total of 30 passengers and crew on board, among them members of various European Parliaments and several physicians. Our boat and cargo will also have received security clearance from the Port Authorities in Cyprus before we depart.
As it will be confirmed that neither we, the cargo, any of the boat’s contents, nor the boat itself constitute any threat to the security of Israel or its armed forces, we do not expect any interference with our voyage by Israel’s authorities.
On Tuesday, December 30, an Israeli Navy vessel violently, and without warning, attacked our motor vessel Dignity, disabling the vessel and endangering the lives of the 16 civilians on board. This notice serves as clear notification to you of our approach. Any attack on the motor vessel, Spirit of Humanity, will be premeditated and any harm inflicted on the 30 civilians on board will be considered the result of a deliberate attack on unarmed civilians.
The Steering Committee of the Free Gaza Movement
PASSENGERS & CREW OF THE SPIRIT OF HUMANITY
Abufalah, Othman Mohammad, Journalist with Al Jazeera Television (Jordan)
Ahidar, Fouad, Member of Parliament (Belgium)
Arraf, Huwaida, human rights lawyer and Delegation Leader (Palestine/USA)
Bitsanis, Konstantinos, human rights worker and crew (Greece)
Bolos, Nikolas, human rights worker and crew (Greece)
Bowden, David, Journalist with SKY TV (UK)
Caruso, Francesco, former Member of Parliament (Italy)
Dabbagh, Ali, Doctor (UK)
Dritsas, Theodoros, Member of Parliament (Greece)
Gentile, Alessandro, Journalist with CNN (Italy)
Gezelius, Mats, Journalist (Sweden/Finland)
Giannopolis, Nikolaos, human rights worker (Greece)
Jacquier, Gilles, Journalist with France Channel 2 (France)
Kampani, Chalent, Orthopedic Surgeon (Greece)
Kanellakis, Yiannis, Journalist with Greek Mega TV (Greece)
Karatzias, Petros, Journalist with the Associated Press (Cyprus)
Kawkuby, Jasir, Doctor and Pediatric Intensive Care specialist (Germany)
Klontzas, George, Ship’s Captain (Greece)
Muncie, Andrew, human rights worker and crew (Scotland)
McLuckie, Garwen, Journalist with SKY TV (UK)
Mourad, Maimouni (Belgium)
Muir, Alistair, Journalist with the BBC (UK)
Nuet, Joan Josef, Member of Parliament (Spain)
Papachristopoulos, Athanasios, Surgeon (Greece)
Pissias, Vangelis, University Professor (Greece)
Pratt, David, Journalist with the Sunday Herald (UK)
Prieto, Monica, Journalist with El Mundo (Spain)
Rahali, Hassan, Journalist (Belgium)
Robbins, Sonia, Surgeon (UK)
Sakorafa, Sofia, Member of Parliament (Greece)
Shakir, Thair, Journalist with Al Jazeera television (Iraq)
Synodynou, Melina, Journalist with Ethnos (Greece)
Tsatsis, Angelos, Journalist with MEGA TV (Greece)
